Amazon tried to enter Latin America three times. Three times they struggled. Because Latin America isn't one market — it's 20 markets with 20 sets of rules. We know those rules. They don't.
We process more shipments per day than FedEx does in all of Latin America. We built our own logistics network across 18 countries. That infrastructure took 15 years. You can't copy it in 15 months.
I wrote my Stanford MBA thesis on building an eBay for Latin America. My professor gave me a B. The market gave me $80 billion. I'll take the B.
Mercado Pago started as a payment button on our marketplace. Now it's the largest fintech in Latin America. It handles more transactions than most banks. The checkout button became a bank.
In Argentina, inflation was 100%. Currency collapsed. Economy in crisis. Our stock went up. Because when your currency is worthless, e-commerce and digital payments become essential, not optional.
I started this in 1999. During the dot-com crash. In Argentina. During an economic collapse. Everyone said the timing was terrible. I say: if you can survive that, you can survive anything.